


Washing Away the Past

by IckleRonnikens



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:35:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24965338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IckleRonnikens/pseuds/IckleRonnikens
Summary: Harry and Hermione decide that chasing after Horcruxes can wait another day or two, but their cleanliness cannot. Harmony fluff. M for implied sexual content.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Harry Potter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 39





	Washing Away the Past

Harry Potter was snoring loudly.

It was the dead of night. He was being a terrible lookout. The once roaring fire he was curled up in front of had become diminishing embers. He hadn’t patrolled the area for hours now. Hermione Granger, who was currently asleep in the tent, would be waking up soon to relieve him of his post. She would probably be unimpressed that he had spent his entire evening sleeping.

Ever since their party of three had become two, there had been a decline in productivity on their journey. They had covered far less ground, eaten very little food, barely slept enough and their conversations had been far and few between. And whenever they had talked to one another, it was usually brief and about where they would be apparating to next.

The long-term goal was still the same, of course, but as far as their short-term goal were concerned, they were still at a crossroad with one another. Harry wanted to go to Godric’s Hollow more than anything else in the world, but Hermione was sure that would be one of the places being watched. She wanted to follow up on Grindelwald’s mark, and visit the Lovegood’s, but Harry was hesitant, there was no way of knowing who they could trust.

So, to compromise, they had remained within the wilderness of the Forest of Dean, occasionally moving around, and removing all evidence that they were ever there.

The flap of the tent opened, Hermione stepped out into the cold and shivered. She immediately spotted Harry asleep and sighed. It isn’t the first time she had found him slacking whilst on guard duty, and it probably wouldn’t be the last. Rather than wake him straight away, she walked to the side of the tent and grabbed a couple of wooden logs from the pile and threw them onto the mellowing fire.

She reached for the small iron peg they’d been using to stoke the fire, and then sat down next to Harry and watched it reignite. For several minutes she debated about waking him, by which time he had already done so on his own and sat up next to her.

‘Oh,’ he said when he opened his eyes properly and realised what had happened, ‘hi.’

She tried to smile brightly at him. ‘Hi.’

‘How long have you—?’

‘Not long.’

Harry nodded. They went silent again. They watched the flickering fire grow and the air around them warm up significantly. Eventually, Hermione stopped poking the wooden logs, she dropped the iron peg and then looked sideways at Harry, whose face was full of guilt.

‘I realised something at dinner tonight, Harry,’ she said quietly, turning back to look at the fire.

‘What?’ Harry asked with a gasp. ‘Is it about Grindelwald—?’

‘No,’ she said immediately.

‘Godric’s Hollow?’ Harry asked hopefully. ‘Are we—?’

‘No.’

Harry stopped. He opened his mouth, thought about saying something, then closed it again.

‘Then what?’ he asked curiously, and he thought maybe she’d come up with a new idea of where they should be going next, but what she said instead, completely threw him.

‘You stink.’

Harry blinked at her. He did that thing again, where he opened and closed his mouth, and found himself at a loss for words. Hermione watched him, wordlessly, as he lifted one of his arms and attempted to get a whiff of his own scent. It seemed fine to him, however, perhaps it had got to the point where he was so used to his own odour, that he could no longer remember what clean smelled like.

‘Okay,’ he said, shrugging as he looked back at Hermione, who bit her lip.

‘I stink too,’ she admitted, she sounded more ashamed of it that he did, ‘it’s been months since we’ve had hot showers, I’ll acknowledge that. But since then, we’ve only been able to run a damp cloth over ourselves every few days, and it just doesn’t do the job of washing the grit of this forest away.’

‘What do you suggest?’ Harry asked with a laugh. ‘It’s not like we can check into the Leaky Cauldron for a room with a view and an ensuite to boot—’

‘Well, obviously not,’ Hermione said sternly, eyeing him hesitantly. ‘However, there was that place we walked past yesterday after we apparated here.’

‘What place?’ Harry asked, sounding puzzled. ‘We didn’t pass a building, did we?’

‘Out here? Certainly not,’ Hermione said promptly, ‘but we did pass a body of water.’

Harry gawped at her. ‘You’re joking,’ he said in disbelief, ‘the lake?’

‘Yeah, why not?’ Hermione asked logically.

‘Because it’s madness,’ Harry said, shaking his head. ‘It’s the middle of the night, in the middle of winter, in the middle of a forest. We’ll freeze to death.’

‘You’re a wizard, aren’t you?’ she asked with a laugh. ‘What’s wrong with a bit of cold water?’

Harry didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t that he didn’t have anything to say, if he weren’t a gentleman, he would have chosen a fair few choice words to describe the craziness he was hearing from her. But he didn’t get much of a chance to continue making his argument. She rushed him to his feet, summoned some towels from within the tent and then she was escorting him away.

‘Harry,’ she said quietly, after there had been a minute or so of silence walking along the trail, ‘I wonder, are you familiar with the phrase, _skinny dipping_?’

Harry thought for a second. ‘I think so,’ he said seriously, ‘Dudley mentioned that he went skinny dipping one time, when I overheard him talking to his gang of friends, during a summer trip to the beach. I never quite found out what it meant, though.’

‘Curious,’ Hermione said devilishly, a little hint of a smile twitched along the side of her mouth that, in the darkness, Harry did not see.

‘Why? Is it bad?’ Harry asked, suddenly coming to a halt on the path and watching Hermione begin to walk away from him.

‘You’ll see,’ she said happily, not bothering to stop and wait for him.

‘Hermione—’

‘Harry, come on! We’re here!’

He lost her briefly through the brush, the light from her wand flickered out, so he held his higher and came around the bend and could barely believe what he saw. She had kicked off her shoes at the edge of the lake and was beginning to pull the layers of clothing off her person. She threw aside her scarf and jacket, then she reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled it up over her head.

He barely had time to process the fact she had no bra on before she was unbuttoning her jeans next and pushing them down over her hips. The fact that Hermione Granger wasn’t wearing underwear made Harry swallow involuntarily, he had to adjust his glasses to make sure that that was indeed her bare arse he could see, illuminated by the moonlight.

She looked over her shoulder at him with a faint smirk and then began to tread into the water. She cursed with every step she took, rendering Harry speechless, and when she completely submerged her body so that only her head was above water, she yelled out the loudest swear word yet.

‘This is skinny dipping, Harry!’ she said once she had managed to compose herself. She turned back to look at Harry and raised her arms up at him. ‘What are you waiting for?’

Harry took his shoes off and approached the water’s edge. He dipped a toe in briefly to check the temperature of the water and nearly had a heart attack.

‘Blimey, Hermione,’ Harry said in disbelief, ‘it’s freezing!’

‘It’s all in your head, Harry,’ she said with a wink, ‘just don’t think about it.’

‘Don’t think about it? Just like that—?’

‘That should be easy for you,’ she said teasingly, splashing water towards him and making him leap backwards.

‘Okay, okay,’ he said defensively, as she kept trying to splash him, ‘would you stop? I’m coming, all right?’

‘Just hurry up,’ she called impatiently, continuing to splash the water’s edge.

Harry pulled his shirt swiftly up over his head and threw it onto the growing pile.

‘There you go,’ Hermione said encouragingly as he unbuttoned his jeans and pushed them down off his legs.

He, unlike her, had underwear on, and he took a step forwards before she stopped him.

‘Hey!’ She pointed a warning finger at him, she narrowed her eyes and her facial expression changed. ‘No cheating, Harry. Take it all off.’

Harry hesitated and looked around nervously. There wasn’t anyone around, of course, but he still wasn’t comfortable with exposing himself. Hermione was meant to be just a friend, but he didn’t recognise this version of her, and he wasn’t sure what to think. Luckily, it was so dark, that eventually he yielded to her wishes and kicked his underwear off.

The action got a smile from the bushy haired stranger in the water in front of him.

Harry hissed some swear words under his breath as well as he began to take steps into the lake. ‘Hermione, my bollocks—’

‘Don’t be such a wuss, Harry,’ Hermione said playfully, and when he looked up, she had her arm held up, ready to strike.

‘Hermione…’ Harry said warningly, pointing his finger at her, ‘don’t you dare—!’

SPLASH.

A face full of freezing cold water splashed across his face. It was like a thousand pins and needles stabbing him all at once. It all went into his mouth, which he had had half-open, and it caused him to chortle and splatter whilst Hermione laughed playfully. She splashed him a couple more times, though he managed to turn his head and then finally, to make her stop, he dived underwater towards her, only surfacing once the commotion had stopped.

‘You,’ he said, wiping the freezing water from his face, ‘you are so—’

‘Careful,’ she said raising her eyebrows at him and giving him a smile.

‘You’re crazy,’ Harry mumbled under his breath.

‘You’re crazy too,’ Hermione said with a laugh, ‘I didn’t think you’d actually do it!’

‘You know, now that I’ve got used to it,’ Harry said, swimming in place, ‘it’s actually not that cold.’

‘Or maybe…’ Hermione said, biting her lip, ‘it’s only warm right here, because just as you were getting in, I relieved myself a little—’

‘What does that mean?’ he asked, and then, after glancing at her and seeing the face she was suddenly making, Harry figured it out. ‘A warning would have been nice, Hermione!’

‘Would you relax, Harry?’ she said in amusement, and she began splashing him again, forcing him to reciprocate, and they want back and forth for a minute, laughing the whole time.

Eventually the splashing stopped, and they swam in place, staring across at each other.

‘When are we going to talk about it, Hermione?’ Harry asked quietly, staring across at her.

‘Talk about what?’ she asked curiously.

‘Ron,’ Harry said seriously, making Hermione look away. ‘Since he left, you’ve barely said a word to me. And now tonight, suddenly, you’re a different person.’

‘He made his decision,’ she said, looking back at him, ‘I’m just tired of feeling guilty for his behaviour.’

‘He was being very stupid,’ Harry said bluntly, wiping his jet-black hair out of his eyes.

Hermione sighed. ‘I know,’ she said coolly, ‘he acts like you should know what you’re doing, when he’s just as clueless. That blockhead.’

‘It’s true though. I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t have the answers.’

‘That’s why we have to look for them, Harry,’ Hermione said seriously. ‘We have to keep going, as long as it takes. Ron just cracked under the pressure, that’s all, he couldn’t handle this lifestyle anymore.’

‘I know, but—’ Harry actually hesitated in admitting it, ‘I feel bad for letting him go. I should have done more to stop him.’

‘Nothing else you said would have stopped him from leaving,’ Hermione said wisely, ‘he’ll realise he’s being an idiot in a few days, and the next time you see him, he’ll be okay. He likes you too much.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Come on, Harry,’ Hermione said quietly, ‘you’re the Chosen one, remember? _Everybody_ likes you.’

There was a pause as Harry blinked at her and she smiled.

‘Even I plead guilty to that,’ she said firmly. ‘In fact, Harry, I’m even guilty of loving you.’

‘You—’ Harry hesitated as he blinked at her. ‘You love me?’

‘Of course,’ she said sweetly, slowly approaching him, ‘I thought, that by now, that much would have been obvious?’

‘Do you really love me?’ he asked hopefully. ‘Or do you just say that to all the friends you go skinny dipping with?’

‘First time, I swear,’ Hermione said, making a cross on her chest, which Harry suddenly realised he could see properly for the first time as she closed in on him. ‘At least, first time with another person.’

‘What?’ he raised his eyebrows at her whilst she smirked. ‘You’ve been skinny dipping on your own?’

Hermione nodded. ‘It probably doesn’t count on my own,’ she whispered, ‘but, I might have snuck out of Hogwarts one night, and swum naked in the great lake when no one was around.’

This piece of information blew Harry’s mind. He thought he knew everything there was to know about Hermione Granger. What else didn’t he know about her?

‘So, do you love me?’ she asked hopefully, interrupting his trail of thought. ‘I’ve already admitted it, so now it’s your turn.’

‘Come on, Hermione, you know I’m not good at any of this stuff,’ said Harry nervously.

‘You can’t be too terrible,’ she said in amusement, ‘you’ve already got me naked—’

‘That was your idea, remember?’ Harry said seriously, as Hermione grew ever closer to him. ‘Not that I’m complaining, of course.’

‘Well,’ she said, inches from his face, ‘you’ll just have to show me you love me another way?’

‘How?’ Harry said dangerously, he felt as though he already knew the answer.

Hermione smiled and put her arms around his neck. ‘Kiss me.’

Harry swallowed hard. She stayed where she was, with her face a few inches from him, and left the decision up to him. That’s what she made it look like, anyway. In reality, she didn’t give him very many alternative choices, and besides, there was nothing Harry wanted more in the world than to move his head forwards slightly, close the gap and press his lips against hers.

He didn’t know what this meant for their friendship, but in that moment, it didn’t matter. The kiss lingered for ages, their bodies pressed together creating warmth, and for a second, they were the only two people in the world, and nothing else mattered.

But then it was over.

‘We should probably get out,’ Hermione whispered to him breathlessly, as she rubbed the tip of her nose against hist, ‘before we freeze to death.’

Harry didn’t want the moment to end but nodded in agreement. She grazed his cheek with her lips and then they broke apart. She led the way out of the lake, fully aware of him staring at her lower back as she went to get the towels and bent over. She was quick to drape one over herself, before turning around to face him, and allowing her eyeline to drop naturally.

Hermione let out a small laugh before clamping a hand to cover her mouth.

‘Oh, Harry,’ she said, biting her lip and smirking at him, ‘you are cold, aren’t you?’

‘Shut up,’ Harry said, scurrying forwards to grab the towel from her, ‘stop looking!’

‘Aww, I’m sorry,’ she said, putting a hand on his shoulder after he’d turned around to cover himself, ‘that ship has sailed, Harry. Would you like some help getting warm?’

‘Ha, ha,’ Harry said miserably, reaching for his clothes, ‘let’s just get back to the tent.’

Hermione nodded and gathered up her clothes also. Then, as Harry had already turned to leave, she raced forwards and collected his hand with hers, holding it and squeezing it firmly. He looked down at where they were joined, blinked, and then looked up at her and she smiled.

There were very few words shared between them on the journey back to the tent. Harry wasn’t quite sure what to expect from her when they got back, but a small part of him felt as though she might have a plan for them already.

‘So, are you guarding for the rest of the night, or should I?’ Harry asked carefully, after they’d returned to the fire and he’d let go of her hand.

‘Let’s not worry about it tonight,’ Hermione said, pulling the tent flap open and holding it for him, ‘let’s go inside and get dry.’

Harry thought it was all quite innocent. He did as he was told, and once inside the tent, they turned their backs to one another and began drying themselves with their towels. At some point, however, Hermione had turned to watch him, because just as he reached for his pants to pull them on, she stopped him. She took him by the hand and led him over to the bunk beds, pulled him onto the bottom one with her, and then they lay down next to one another.

‘You okay?’ she asked him in a whisper.

‘Yeah,’ Harry said, he wasn’t quite sure where he should be looking, so instead he was staring up at the bunk above them. ‘I’m just… nervous. Not quite sure how we got to this.’

‘Me neither,’ Hermione said quietly. ‘I’m nervous too, Harry, but you want to do this, right?’

Harry nodded but continued staring up. The silence was awkward, he wasn’t sure what to say. But then Hermione stopped any chance he had of talking by leaning over to kiss him again. It didn’t linger nearly as long as the one in the lake did, but it made him feel better about the situation.

‘This is nice and cosy, isn’t it?’ she said to him, her face still close to his, her hand began to touch him, and run over his bare torso, and it started heading downwards.

‘Yeah,’ he said nervously, gulping again, ‘hey listen, I… err… think you should know that I’m—’

‘I know, Harry,’ she said reassuringly, ‘don’t worry about it. Okay?’

‘And are you—?’

‘I said don’t worry about it,’ she hissed, dragging him back into a kiss, and continuing with proceedings.

As they kissed, she climbed on top of him and took control. Her bushy hair was still wet from the swim in the lake, it dragged across his face as they kissed. He barely noticed what her hands were doing south of the border anymore. It was probably for the best if he tried not to think about it and kept his focus on her and her face right in front of him instead.

If all he worried about was kissing her right, then hopefully whatever else happened wouldn’t matter. But it was literally impossible for him to ignore the feeling of the moment of connection, especially in his circumstance, being his first time ever. It was obvious straight away this wasn’t her first time. There were no barries to speak of, there was no hesitation on her part, and as she moved on top of him, her performed was almost second nature.

It made him wonder how many times she’d done this before. It made him wonder who she’d done this with. And it really made him wonder, that the only reason they were doing this at all, was because now they were a party of two, instead of three.

And then it was over.

They lay on their backs, staring up at the top bunk and breathing heavily. She pulled the sheet over them for warmth and they were holding hands again.

‘Sorry.’

‘Don’t be sorry,’ she said, ‘why are you sorry?’

‘I sucked.’

‘You didn’t suck, Harry, it was your first time,’ she said quietly, ‘you’ll do much better next time.’

‘Next time?’ Harry asked hopefully.

‘Next time,’ Hermione nodded.

She kissed him on the lips, reached for her wand, flicked the lights off, and then curled up with him to sleep.


End file.
